Electrode for electric boilers



Oct. 16, 1928. 1,688,202

N. J. NEALL ET AL ELECTRODE FOR ELECTRIC BOILERS Filed Nov. s, 1924 2sheets-sheet. 1

INVENTUR: X) w. M/TmRNEy-g um www IMM N. J. NEALL ET AL LECTRODE FORELECTRIC BOILERS Filed Nov. 5. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet IWF-MDR# MW WMMQQ/LM@ A TURNEY MU@ /tww Patented Oct. 16,4 1928. l Y

UNITED TES- PATENT' eFH-cle..

NEWITT J'. NEALL, or BnooKLrNn, Ann RALPH W. eHAnBonnN, osmmrcosn,MASSA- cHUsnTTs, AssIGNoRs 'ro OXFORD PAPER COMPANY, oF

rIPQRA'LIOll' OF NEW YORK.

NEW'YQRK, N. Y., A COR- f nnnc'rnonn Fon nnncmnre' normas.v`

Appiitaami` siediovember 5I, 1924i., seria; No.2 747,971.

rIn an application for United States `Let-f ters Patent `filed November,1924.,.Ser1al2 No" 747 970 .We haveV described and claimedy an improvedmethod of operating electric Steam boilers and a novel boil-erT and haveset forth inv detail the fundamental considerationsI which we havediscovered in rel-ationy to' the operation of theseA boilers. In thecoarse of these experiments,l we havediscovered that the form of thelive.' electrode or electrodesl employedl has an important bearing' on.the efficiency of the boiler.

AThe present invention therefore has to do with new andlimprovedelectrodes for electric boilers, the object of the inventie-n being toprovide electrodes which. to the largest possibleextent Willi tend toreducev arcing' and tlre disassoeiatlion of gases. withy the objectionable accompanying effects which.v are de scribed inour.compai'iionapplication.r Disassociation of gases'occurs whenthecurrent passes through. dry vapor as,y yfor instance,` through steambubbles. l

ln the course of the experiments referred to, we discovered that where acyliI-id-rical.` or

pipe-shaped electrode isfemplbyed, `as has commonly been the ycase'` inelectric steamP boilers, there is: formedfon the outside of theelectrode an envelope of steam?, andbunder some conditions: ofdlfisassocia-ted-fgases' and that in the area of active steam; formationthere is produceda colloidlilte substance wlliiich lowers theresistivity ofthe solution with the result that'arcingis likely totalteplace. le have also found that arcingis i most likely to talreplace whenthe steam en-y velo pe is lai-'ge and thick and the areaof active.atea-in production is closelyadjafcent the sur#- f face'of acylindrical electrode. The .particirlar .object therefore of the presentinvention is to provide an `electrode.which willproduce an areav ofsteam lformation such. that the smallest possible envelope about' theelectrodez surface is formed' andithereforef the. conditions will"` beleast favorable 'for arcing and consequent; disassociationl of gases.

, f As `pointed outiin. our said companion ap-l plication, we lia-VeSolved the-fproblemf of the diminishing; resistivity of the solution` inythe boiler by introducing feed Water which has'ai` maximumresistivityattheregion of active steam formation, that is,` closely adjac'ent the surface of the central electrode, and We remove theconcentrate as it 1s formed, prefer.-

abily by means of pipes around the ontside of n the boiler on: the levelwith the region ofi maximum steam formation.

The invention will be fully understood-by reference to the followingdescription when takenfini connection with the, accompanying drawing,and the novel features thereof will. be pointed outl and fully setforth. in the claims at the close of this specification'.

' In the drawings: .Y

Fig. 1k is" an elevationfof` an electrode and? fh means for introducingfeed Water tofV vthe region.` ofV active steam formation, the. Wholeshown in Fig. l. y

F ig; 3 is Va plan View of the electrode shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4- shows another formof electrodeembodying our invention.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are sections showing elec@ trodes embodying ourinventionl modified embodying our invention in its Vpreferred Y form. f

Fig. 2 1s a 'vertical section of theele'ctrod'e formingthe electrodeproper,y the atv intervalss slioavn'atll and' atitsupper endisconnectedY to the center member so that feed water may beintroducedthrough; the electrode proper aswellg as through the central`memberV to lthe localities of active steam formation'.V v i Theelectrode proper' 1131isfconnected` elec# trically withv the; wirevcarrying ,theincoming current, the shellrof the boiler4 (not shown).beingv grounded in the usual' way.

Asshown inthe drawings;y thetelectrodes areplaced: in'the boilers'With'vtheapexof the passes-A between the coi-led` pipe forming-,the electrodeproperl llan'd the otherele'ctrode or electrodes` (not shown)tl'ieareas: ot currenty conical1 helix doWn. Theelectric'y currentformation therefore follows the surface of the coiled electrode, and asthe bubbles of steam form they immediately rise directly upward withoutbeing impeded or retarded by any part of the electrode or byinterference with each other, and there is a minimum tendency tocoalesce.

The upward direction of the movement ofV the bubbles is indicated, as at16, byv dotted lines. It will be seen that no unitof active surface ofthe electrode is vertically above any other unit of surface of theelectrode and therefore the steam formed by any given unit of surface isfree to rise to the surface of the water in the boiler withoutinterfering with any other bubbles of steam. It is also seen that thepaths of the bubbles of steam ai'e not so located as to cause thebubbles to tend to coalesce with each other. rlhere is therefore no areain which there is formed any considerable mass vof steam through whichit is necessary for thc electric current to pass and. therefore thepossibility of arcing and consequent disassociation of gases is reducedto a imnimum.

The feed water as explained is .introduced` in part through the centralsuluiorting menr bei' ll. and in part through the pipe forming theelectrode proper and therefore enters the solution in the boile at thearea ofactive steam formation, thereby furnishing a solu* tion ofii'iiiXimum resistivity for the electric current to act upon.

lt will be seen that the bedspring shape of electrode shown in Fig. lgives the nearest possible approach to ideal conditions and thereforeembodies our invention in its preferred form, Other forms of electrodeshowever embody our invention in somewhat less effective form, but stillare a greatiimprovenient over the forms of employed.

ln Fig. lwe have shown an electrode of the bcdspring shape having acentral member 2O through which all the incoming water is iutroduced,the electrode proper 2l being of conical helix form and being solid andnot serv# ing for the introduction of water. Notwithstanding the factthat water is introduced entirely through the supporting member Q0, itarrives at theregion of active steam formation, and excellent resultsare produced.

In Fig. 5 we have shown an electrode composed of a hollow headerconnected electrically by the pipe 3l both to the water supply and tothe incoming current. To this header are secured aseries of pipes, 32,82, forming the electrodes proper. These pipes are hollow and inclinedtoward each other, closely approaching each other at the bottom. The Yentering water passes through the pipe 3l, the header 30 ,-down thepipes 32 and emerges from the orifices 33. Thence, such of 1t aselectrodes heretoforeis not evaporated rises as it is heated along thesurface of the electrodes 32, thus reaching easily the region of maximumsteam for .mation The steam bubbles produced i'ise to the surface and donot interfere with each other, although in actual practice they arelikely to be of larger size than those formed by the bedspring type ofelectrode.

in Fig. (S, we have shown another electrode like that shown in Fig. 5,except that the depending electrode members gli are solid and waterisintroduced through holes in the header 30.

` In Fig. 7, we have shown stillanother electrode having a header 4l()andelectrofles proper ll. These are hollow and have vertical portionswith the lower ends. inturned to form a sort of cylindrical basket.Since the chief region of steam formation is near the tips of theelectrodes and further since the areas of the individual electrodes arerelatively small, there is much less interference and a lessobjectionable envelope of steam is formed than is the case withcylindrical electrodes of the kind'heretofore ordiimrily employed.Furthermore, we believe the shape of electrode with tips further fromthe boiler than the other portions of the electrodeprovides moreeflicient conditions on account of more uniform current distribution.

Vhat we claim is:

l. rlhe improved electrode for electric steam boilers comprising ahollow member havingan effective portion at an angle to the vertical tobe submerged in the solution so that steam bubbles formed by theeffective portion will tend to rise individually vertically to thesurface, said hollow member being connected to permit the introductionof fresh water through the hollow member.

2. The improved electrode for electric steam boilers comprising anelectrically etl'ec-v tive member of conical helical shape, said memberbeing hollow to permit the introduction of feed water therethrough. y

8. The improved electrode for electric steam boilers comprising a hollowmember which has an electrically ellective portion at an angle to thevertical and an orifice or oriiices adjacent the electricallye'l'l'ectivepoi'- tion, and means for supplying wat-er through theelectrode and the said orifice or orifices.

l. The improved electrode for electric steam boilers comprising a hollowcentral member for the introduction of water and a pipe connecting atone end with the said central member and bent into conical helical formsaid pipe being provided with orifices for the emission of feedvwater.

In testimony whereof we a'lllx our signatures.

NEVITT J. NEALL. RALPH W'. CHADBOURN.

